by Michael Thompson
The River North Center had been on lockdown for three months as of February 2026 due to the murder of a guard. Following the murder, John Holomon Russell was charged with aggravated murder, as well as the attempted murder of two other prison guards, and …
by Michael Thompson
Everett Palmer Jr. died in the York County Prison (YCP) in Pennsylvania as a direct result of attempts to extract him from his cell in 2018. Palmer was suffering a severe mental health crisis that was later attributed to a combination of methamphetamine toxicity and …
by Michael Thompson
Ohio’s weak oversight of its jails has left the state nearly powerless to effect change as the Cuyahoga County jail continues to experience a string of largely preventable deaths. The deaths have mostly been caused by natural causes or drug overdoses, but as was apparent …
by Michael Thompson
The number of unhoused people in Albuquerque doubled between 2022 and 2025. During that same period, the number of unhoused people jailed by the city more than tripled, according to a report by ProPublica.
The Bernalillo County Jail, which marks those whom do not …
by Michael Thompson
The Prison Policy Initiative (PPI) has released its newest report on how many people are locked up in prison across the country and the reasons for their incarceration. After breaking down the carceral numbers, the report addresses some of the myths associated with America’s mass …
by Michael Thompson
Robert L. Brooks, Sr., 43, was murdered by guards moments after arriving at the Marcy Correctional Facility in New York in 2024. Both then and now, Daniel F. Martuscello III was the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) for New York. …
by Michael Thompson
American prison populations are aging rapidly while studies have continued to show that prisoners have significantly lower life expectancies than those outside of prisons. In Illinois, some 23% of state prisoners are over the age of 50. That is a huge jump from just 4% …
by Michael Thompson
Michigan’s only women’s prison “is infested with mold,” according to U.S. District Judge Stephen J. Murphy III. Three women incarcerated at Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility, Hope Zentz, Paula Bailey, and Krystal Clark, are suing the Michigan Department of Corrections (DOC) over the conditions at …
by Michael Thompson
Kansas has a mechanism in place that allows it to fine the medical provider contracted to serve the Department of Corrections (DOC). From just January through September of 2025, Centurion, the DOC’s private medical contractor, was fined $1 million. In fact, the five months with …
by Michael Thompson
Mississippi has had recurring problems from the private healthcare providers they have hired for their prisons. The problems accumulating with VitalCore Health Strategies, their current provider, have pushed the state into hiring a law firm to monitor the contract.
Mississippi’s Department of Corrections (DOC) …
